1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 569: Art should be sacred and independent!
Maxim's Restaurant!

As one of the most famous restaurants in France, it was once a must-go place for celebrity dinners. Even in the 1950s, it was the designated dinner venue for Hollywood stars and the British royal family.

However, Maxim's restaurant gradually became old and began to lose customers as it was positioned as a high-end luxury restaurant, until Pierre Cardin took over.

Lao Pi redesigned and renovated this place, giving the restaurant a strong sense of art again.

But the most important thing is that Lao Pi changed the positioning of the restaurant. He relaxed the conditions of the luxury restaurant that was originally only for celebrities and began to open it to the general public.

As a result, Maxim's restaurant once again became the top "Internet celebrity restaurant" in Paris, and it has regained its former glory.

When Li Changhe arrived at the entrance of Maxim's restaurant by car, he saw Pierre Cardin who was already waiting there.

After getting off the car, Pierre Cardin came quickly to meet me.

When the diners around saw this, they all looked over here curiously.

Many of them know Pierre Cardin, the famous fashion designer and current owner of this store.

They were very curious about the identity of the young oriental man who could make Pierre Cardin come out in person to greet him.

"How about, Vic, taking a look at my redesigned restaurant?"

After leading Li Changhe in, Pierre Cardin pointed at the artistic restaurant and said proudly to Li Changhe.

"Very good, Per, it is worthy of your hand. The whole restaurant looks like a huge work of art."

Li Changhe gave a sincere compliment.

Although he didn't know much about art, after coming in, he saw that the design inside was indeed unique, pleasing to the eye and very stylish.

"How about it, Per, do you want to continue cooperating?"

Li Changhe continued to ask at this time.

"cooperate?"

"You mean Maxim's?"

Pierre Cardin asked curiously.

"Yes, I have a hotel in Hong Kong Island, called the Mandarin Hotel. Next, I plan to expand the Mandarin Hotel overseas."

“You know how important a restaurant is to a hotel.”

"I want Maxim's Restaurant to reach a strategic cooperation with Mandarin Hotel. There will be a Maxim's restaurant in every Mandarin Hotel. How about that?"

Li Changhe spoke seriously to Pierre Cardin.

Maxim's restaurant has a long history and is, to put it bluntly, very classy. It would be very appropriate for such a restaurant to be located inside the Mandarin Hotel.

After all, hotel restaurants are themselves an important attraction of hotel culture.

"Oh? That's a good idea indeed."

"I also have the idea of ​​opening Maxim's restaurants in other places. Do you know where I want to open a branch first?"

After hearing what Li Changhe said, Pierre Cardin smiled and said.

"It's the capital, right?"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

"Wow, Vic, how did you know that?"

Pierre Cardin looked at Li Changhe in surprise at this moment and asked in astonishment.

"Guess!"

"It just so happens that I also plan to invest in a Mandarin Hotel in Beijing. I think our cooperation can start again in Beijing!"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

Nowadays, high-end hotels are scarce in Beijing, especially after the opening up to the outside world. Relying solely on large state-owned hotels cannot meet the needs of foreign visitors.

Therefore, the higher authorities have begun to relax access to the high-end hotel industry, and Li Changhe naturally plans to make arrangements in advance.

"No problem at all!"

Pierre Cardin readily agreed.

In fact, at present, the popularity of Mandarin Hotel and Maxim's Restaurant does not match.

Maxim's is a long-established restaurant in Paris, and is also well-known in Europe and the United States.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel can only be said to be a regional hotel in Hong Kong Island in Asia. It may be somewhat famous in East Asia and Southeast Asia, but it is not very famous in Europe and the United States.

But Pierre Cardin doesn't care about this. His current concept is to sink high-end brands to the middle level.

What's more, given his relationship with Li Changhe, he would never refuse such cooperation.

As they talked, they came to an elegant private room on the second floor.

This is the signature room of Maxim's restaurant. It used to be the favorite dining spot for many big shots. But today, Pierre Cardin left it to Li Changhe and Mitterrand.

When Pierre Cardin and his men came over, the two "assistants" at the door immediately became alert, and only let down their guard when they saw it was Pierre Cardin.

"Vic, tell your men to go to the next room, and we two will go in!"

Then, Pierre Cardin brought Li Changhe into the room.

Inside the room, there was already a man and a woman waiting there.

The woman looked to be about 40 years old, but she still had the charm of a mature woman. She was Madame Lorris, a well-known literary author in Paris and also a widow.

Next to him was an old man in his sixties, and judging from his hairstyle, he looked very similar to the future emperor.

Obviously, he is Mitterrand, the strongest candidate for the French presidency today.

When Pierre Cardin and Li Changhe walked in, Mitterrand and Madame Loris also raised their heads.

"My dear, you should know Per."

"As for this handsome young man from the East, he is Mr. Victor who wants to meet you today."

At this time, Madame Loris enthusiastically introduced Mitterrand.

Mitterrand smiled slightly and said, "Victor, who comes from an oriental shipping tycoon family, is a suddenly rising investment genius. I finally get to meet him today."

In fact, when Mrs. Loris mentioned it to him, he was not willing to meet Li Changhe at first.

You want to meet this wealthy man who came from nowhere in the East?
However, the lover's face could not be completely refuted, so Mitterrand asked someone to investigate Victor.

You don’t know until you check, and you’ll be shocked when you do.

This person's identity was indeed extraordinary, which was why Mitterrand became interested and agreed to meet him.

"Hello, Mr. Mitterrand!"

"Loris, I just received a few works of art from the Renaissance. Are you interested in going with me to see them?"

Pierre Cardin invited Loris at this time.

Loris responded immediately and enthusiastically: "Of course I'm interested, Per!" "Honey, Per and I will go to see his new collection of art, you can chat with Vic first!"

Mitterrand then nodded.

After Madame Loris and Pierre Cardin left, Mitterrand looked at Li Changhe.

"Mr. Victor, I heard that you came to see me because you want to invest in France, right?"

"But these are not my business at the moment!"

Mitterrand smiled and took the initiative to speak.

Li Changhe smiled and said, "I believe it will be soon, Mr. Mitterrand. I think you are the right person to be the president of France this term!"

Mitterrand smiled. This boy spoke very nicely.

In fact, even though he is now in a stalemate with the former president of the alliance, Giscard d'Estaing, they have already contacted France G in private. With the support of France G, Giscard d'Estaing is no longer able to turn the situation around.

It seems that this Victor is quite well-informed.

"Then I wonder what industries Mr. Victor wants to invest in? Maybe if you tell me, I can give you some advice?"

Mitterrand was too lazy to talk nonsense at this time and directly asked Li Changhe to state the conditions.

Li Changhe did not hesitate, but said seriously: "Mr. Mitterrand, I have many industries under my name. First of all, I intend to build a high-end five-star hotel in Paris."

"Secondly, I also have a supermarket chain in Asia. We are currently building a global supply chain. France has many high-quality agricultural and industrial products, such as wine and clothing."

"Finally, I also own a power plant that supplies all the electricity for the main island of Hong Kong."

"Recently, my power plant is preparing to relocate and build a new power plant area. I intend to introduce nuclear power equipment to increase the power supply to Hong Kong Island. France's nuclear power technology is a partner that I am very optimistic about."

Li Changhe finished speaking calmly.

After hearing this, Mitterrand was stunned.

He originally thought that the other party was looking for him just to invest in some industry and then exchange interests with him.

After all, he already knew that the other party's intention seemed to be the Cannes selection.

It was just a film award, he didn't think the other party could offer much leverage.

When Mitterrand heard this, he was shocked.

To invest in a high-end hotel in Paris, the starting capital is at least 200 million US dollars, or even more.

That would be fine, but the global supply chain of Hong Kong supermarkets, since they can build a global supply chain, shows that the scale of this retail group is definitely not small, otherwise, the cost alone would be enough to drag down the other party.

The other party is interested in purchasing French industrial and agricultural products. Apart from other things, France is indeed weak in the agricultural products sector.

France has the best plains in Europe and a large agricultural output, but its agricultural product processing capabilities are not strong today. Except for wine, other agricultural products do not have high international competitiveness.

Therefore, agriculture and farmers are one of Mitterrand's next key areas of focus, which will help consolidate his ruling position.

A retail group may not be able to improve the overall situation, but it can provide Mitterrand with a certain degree of improvement.

At least it can let people in the industry see that he is really taking action.

Not to mention the last bit of nuclear power technology.

This is France's strength. If it can be authorized to other countries, it will also be a political achievement for the nuclear industry.

The economic benefits generated by these three together may exceed one billion US dollars.

Not to mention the employment it has created and the benefits it has benefited the grassroots groups.

Mitterrand really didn't expect that the other party would make such a big move at once.

It seems that the other party is really optimistic about him and is actually supporting him with funds.

And if it were someone else, Mitterrand might even suspect that the other party was just making empty promises.

But for Victor, he knew that the other party could come up with the money.

According to the information obtained from my own investigation, the other party made billions of dollars in the oil business last year alone. Now it has become a wealth myth in the United States. This is no longer a secret to the top leaders of various countries.

So although this amount of money seems to be a lot, the other party can definitely afford it.

At this moment, Mitterrand suddenly became enthusiastic.

"Vic, I originally thought your investment was not large, but I didn't expect it to involve so many aspects."

"It seems that this is something we really need to discuss seriously."

Mitterrand said this with great energy at this moment.

Li Changhe also nodded with a smile: "Yes, I am currently forming an exchange team, and will come to Paris for inspection after May."

"I think at that time, we can have full contact. I am very optimistic about the strength of France."

Why until May?

Because May is when the results of the presidential election will be announced.

Li Changhe’s meaning was very clear, as long as you become president, the cooperation team will come.

Mitterrand smiled and nodded, then said: "Don't worry, when you come, I will definitely let you feel the enthusiasm of France."

"By the way, Vic, I heard that you are coming to France this time. Is it because of your film company that you are going to participate in Cannes?"

Li Changhe offered such good conditions, there was no doubt that Mitterrand would reciprocate, so he took the initiative to speak up.

"Yes, Mr. Mitterrand, our company has prepared a very exciting film that we plan to show to audiences around the world at the Cannes Film Festival to raise awareness of our company."

"But I got news that other forces were involved, intending to undermine the fairness of this year's Cannes and wanted to award the prize to a film with a very strong political color."

"This makes me feel a little helpless. I think movies are movies. They are the temple of art and should not be used as a means for certain forces to attack and discredit competitors."

"Especially, that movie is a film that exposes the dark side of Poland."

"Mr. Mitterrand, I have always felt that France has its own opinions in the international arena and does not blindly follow the footsteps of Britain and the United States. So I wonder if they are doing this for the outside world or for the inside world?"

Li Changhe said with a smile.

After hearing this, Mitterrand's enthusiastic smile slowly faded.

He had completely understood the meaning of Li Changhe's words.

France is not a echo chamber of the United States and Britain in the international arena, nor is it a vanguard of anti-Sovietism. But this time, there are forces that want to give the Cannes award to an anti-Soviet film. Is there any need to explain the implication of this?
To some extent, Mitterrand's Social Democratic Party and France's Social Democratic Party are no different from the Soviet Union.

"I never thought that some people could do such a thing. It is damaging the reputation of France and Cannes."

"This is a violation of French fairness and a humiliation to film artists around the world."

"Mr. Victor, I understand. I can assure you that this Cannes selection will be fair and just."

“Art is sacred and independent!”

(End of this chapter)